Prometheus Screenwriter Jon Spaihts Enters The Black Hole

Walt Disney Pictures has hired screenwriter Jon Spaihts to rewrite their upcoming remake of 1979’s The Black Hole. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the Prometheus scribe will take the reins from Pacific Rim‘s Travis Beacham, who began working on the screenplay a few years back.

The original film followed the explorer craft U.S.S. Palomino on its return to Earth following a fruitless 18-month search for extra-terrestrial life when the crew comes upon a supposedly lost ship, the magnificent U.S.S. Cygnus, hovering near a black hole. The ship is controlled by Dr. Hans Reinhardt and his monstrous robot companion, Maximillian. But the initial wonderment and awe the Palomino crew feel for the ship and its resistance to the power of the black hole turn to horror as they uncover Reinhardt’s plans, which involve turning his former crew into robots and flying through the hole. As they try to escape, a meteorite shower damages the ship, and the survivors hang on as they are plunged into the most powerful force in the universe, heading toward the blinding light that holds whatever eternity awaits them.

Joseph Kosinski, the director of TRON: Legacy and the upcoming Oblivion, is attached to direct. Eagle-eyed fans might have noticed a nod to the project during one of the young Sam Flynn scenes in the former.